A species of alligator (A. sinensis) has been described by Dr. A. Fauvel in the N. C. Br. R. A. Soc. Journal, No. XIII., 1879, in which he gives many historical and other notices of its existence. Crocodiles are recorded as having been seen in the rivers of Kwangtung and Kwangsí, but none of this family attain a large size.
Marco Polo’s account of the huge serpent of Yunnan,[201] having two forelegs near the head, and one claw like that of a lion or hawk on each, and a mouth big enough to swallow a man whole, referring no doubt to the crocodile, is a good instance of the way in which truth and fable were mingled in the accounts of those times. The flesh is still eaten by the Anamese, as he says it was in his day. A gigantic salamander, analogous to the one found in Japan (the Sieboldia), has suggested it as the type of the dragon which figures on the Chinese national flag. Small lizards abound in the southern parts, and the variety and numbers of serpents, both land and water, found in the maritime provinces, are hardly exceeded in any country in the world; they are seldom poisonous. A species of naja is the only venomous snake yet observed at Chusan, and the hooded cobra is one of the few yet found around Canton. Another species frequents the banks, and is driven out of the drains and creeks by high water into the houses. A case is mentioned by Bennet of a Chinese who was bitten, and to whose wound the mashed head of the reptile had been applied as a poultice, a mode of treatment which probably accelerated his death by mixing more of the poison diluted in the animal’s blood with the man’s own blood. It is, however, rare to hear of casualties from this source. This snake is called ‘black and white,’ from being marked in alternate bands of those two colors. A species of acrochordon, remarkable for its abrupt, short tail, has been noticed near Macao.
It is considered felicitous by the Buddhist priests to harbor snakes around their temples; and though the natives do not play with poisonous serpents like the Hindoos, they often handle or teach them simple tricks. The common frog is taken in great numbers for food. Tortoises and turtles from fresh and salt water are plenty along the coast, while both the emys and trionyx are kept in tubs in the streets, where they grow to a large size. An enormous carnivorous tortoise inhabits the waters of Chehkiang near the ocean. The natives have strange ideas concerning the hairy turtle of Sz’chuen, and regard it as excellent medicine; it is now known that the supposed hair consists of confervæ, whose spores, lodged on the shell, have grown far beyond the animal’s body.
ICHTHYOLOGY OF CHINA.
The ichthyology of China is one of the richest in the world, though it may be so more from the greater proportion of food furnished by the waters than from any real superabundance of the finny tribes. The offal thrown from boats near cities attracts some kinds to those places, and gives food and employment to multitudes. Several large collections of fishes have been made in Canton, and Mr. Reeves deposited one of the richest in the British Museum, together with a series of drawings made by native artists from living specimens; they have been described by Sir John Richardson in the Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, for 1845. In this paper he enumerates one hundred and ninety genera and six hundred and seventy-one species, nearly all of which are marine or come out to sea at certain times. Since it was prepared great accessions to this branch have been made from the inland waters, so that probably a thousand sorts in all have been observed. The salmon and cod families are comparatively scarce, but the mackerel, goby, and herring families are very abundant. The variety of fish is so great in Macao, that if one is willing to eat all that are brought to market, as the Chinese do (including the sharks, torpedoes, gudgeons, etc.), one can have a different species every day in the year. It may with truth be said that the Chinese eat nearly every living thing found in the water, some of the hideous fishing frogs or gurnards alone excepted.
The cartilaginous fishes, sharks, rays, and saw-fish, are abundant on the sea-coast. The sturgeon is not common at the south, but in the winter it is brought from the Songari and other rivers to Peking for the imperial table, being highly prized by Chinese epicures. There is found in the Yangtsz’ a singular species of sturgeon, the yiu yü, which lies under the banks in still water and sucks its prey into a sac-like mouth projecting like a cusp under the long snout; it has no scales, and is four feet long. Common sturgeon, weighing a thousand pounds, are caught in this river. The hammer-headed and zebra shark (Cestracion zebra) are seen in the markets at Macao; also huge skates, some of them measuring five feet across; the young of all these species are regarded as particularly good eating. A kind of torpedo (Narcine lingula) is not uncommon on the southern coast, but the natives do not seem to be aware of any electrical properties. It is said that the fishermen sometimes destroy the shark by boiling a melon and throwing it out as a bait; when swallowed, the heat kills the fish. The true cod has not been observed on the Chinese coast, but several species of serrani (as Plectropoma susuki, Serranus shihpan, Megachir, etc.), generally called shih-pan by the natives, and garoupa by foreigners, are common off Canton, and considered to be most delicate fare. Another fine fish is the Polynemus tetradactylus, or bynni-carp, often called salmon by foreigners; isinglass is prepared from its skin. The pomfret, or tsang yü (Stromateus argenteus), is a good pan-fish, but hardly so delicate as the sole, many fine species of which abound along the whole coast. Besides these, two or three species of mackerel, the Sciœna lucida, an ophicephalus, the mullet, and the ‘white rice fish’ occur. The shad is abundant off the Yangtsz’, and is superior to the American species; Chinese epicures will sometimes pay fifty dollars for the first one of the season.
The carp family (Cyprinidæ) is very abundant in the rivers and lakes of China, and some species are reared in fish-pools and tubs to a monstrous size; fifty-two species are mentioned in Richardson’s list. The gold-fish is the most celebrated, and has been introduced into Europe, where it was first seen toward the end of the seventeenth century. The Chinese say that its native place is Lake Tsau, in the province of Nganhwui. The effects of domestication in changing the natural form of this fish are great; specimens are often seen without any dorsal fin, and the tail and other fins tufted and lobed to such a degree as to resemble artificial appendages or wings rather than natural organs. The eyes are developed till the globe projects beyond the socket like goggles, presenting an extraordinary appearance. Some of them are so fantastic, indeed, that they would be regarded as lusus naturæ were they not so common. The usual color is a ruddy golden hue, but both sexes exhibit a silvery or blackish tint at certain stages of their growth; and one variety, called the silver-fish, retains this shade all its life. The Chinese keep it in their garden ponds, or in earthern jars, in which are placed rocks covered with moss, and overgrown with tufts of ferns, to afford them a retreat from the light. When the females spawn, the eggs must be removed to a shallow vessel, lest the males devour them, where the heat of the sun hatches them; the young are nearly black, but gradually become whitish or reddish, and at last assume a golden or silvery hue. Specimens upward of two feet long have been noticed, and those who rear them emulate each other in producing new varieties.
METHODS OF REARING FISH.
The rearing of fish is an important pursuit, the spawn being collected with the greatest care and placed in favorable positions for hatching. The Bulletin Universel for 1829 asserts that in some part of China the spawn so taken is carefully placed in an empty egg-shell and the hole closed; the egg is then replaced in the nest, and, after the hen has sat a few days upon it, reopened, and the spawn placed in vessels of water warmed by the sun, where it soon hatches.
The immense fleets of fishing boats on the Yangtsz’ and its tributaries indicate the finny supplies its waters afford. A species of pipe-fish (Fistularia immaculata), of a red color, and the gar-pike, with green bones, are found about Canton; as are also numerous beautiful parrot-fish and sun-fish (Chætodon). An ingenious mode of taking its prey is practised by a sort of chætodon, or chelmon; it darts a drop of water at the flies or other insects lighting on the bank near the edge, in such a manner as to knock them off, when they are devoured. All the species of ophicephalus, or săng yü, so remarkable for their tenacity of life, are reared in tanks and pools, and are hawked alive through the streets.